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The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz, which will focus this year on tire safety, will be held June 7-9. In advance of Roadcheck, Goodyear and Bendix have released some tips on tire safety to help owner-operators prepare for the inspection spree.

Freight being subcontracted to smaller carriers from larger ones is not news to the industry. But LaneAxis says its research shows the practice is perhaps more prevalent than previously though, given the large share of freight -- 42 percent of total bookings, says LaneAxis -- pushed to smaller carriers and owner-operators by some of the country’s largest.

The legal challenge against the DOT's electronic logging device mandate centers on the rule's requirement to track truckers within a one-mile radius while on duty, which opponents say violates truckers' Constitutional rights. Will the court agree?

Rates slipped a cent for vans and reefers but are recovering already this week, given tighter capacity and an increase in the fuel surcharge. Atlanta-Houston roundtrip -- splitting the return from Texas could be advantageous.

FWI said in past Memorial Day weekends, it has seen elevated theft levels up to 40 percent higher than non-holiday weekends, and in 2015, saw a record-high 15 cargo theft incidents averaging more than $600,000 in value.

From the cab of Clifford "Dream Walker" Petersen on the state of the industry. Drivers have strength in numbers, and individual actions will go a long way toward improving conditions for owner-operators.

The House’s Appropriations Committee has sent to the full House a Department of Transportation funding package that would permanently restore 2011 regulations pertaining to truckers’ use of a 34-hour restart. The bill also would halt the DOT’s work on its proposed Safety Fitness Determination rulemaking and would prevent states from enforcing any state-enacted laws governing truckers’ breaks and pay.

“The city and state tell us how many handicap spaces we have to have. Every shipper or receiver facility that accepts and receives trucks needs to bear some kind of responsibility. How do we get there? We’re raising the issue now.”

A 3 percent drop in load availability in the week drove the index’s lower reading. Load availability was down 25.3 percent from the same week last year, according to Truckstop.com’s weekly Trans4Cast report.